• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Barton helps keep Athletics rolling

Apr 29, 2008 - 5:45 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Daric Barton blasted a three-run home run in the third inning Monday as the Oakland Athletics cruised to a 14-2 rout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Jack Hannahan and Emil Brown also homered and Frank Thomas went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI for the Athletics, who have won five of their last six games and taken over sole possession of first place in the American League West Division.

Chad Gaudin (3-1) tossed six effective innings, recording his third straight win in as many starts.

"Chad went out and threw a good game tonight," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "He just had one bad inning that got his pitch count up, but settled down after that."

Barton snapped a 1-1 tie in the third, sending a 2-1 offering from Angels starter Jon Garland (3-3) over the right-field wall for his first home run of the campaign to give the Athletics a 4-1 edge.

"The scouting report said that he (Garland) uses his changeup early, so I was just looking for a pitch up in the zone and I put a good swing on it," Barton said.

From there, the game was never in doubt.

"It's always good to benefit from the offense putting up big numbers," Gaudin said. "The guys came out swinging and gave me runs to work with."

Hannahan connected on a solo shot in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 6-2, and Brown's two-run homer started an eight-run seventh inning which gave Oakland a commanding 14-2 advantage.

Ryan Sweeney and Rajai Davis both had two-run singles in the frame and Brown picked up a third RBI in the inning when he was walked with the bases loaded.

It was plenty offense for Gaudin, who allowed two runs and five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The 25-year-old righthander is now 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 16 strikeouts over his last three starts.

"I'm feeling really good right now with the way I'm pitching, and hope I can keep it going," Gaudin said.

Garland was roughed up for seven runs and 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts over six-plus frames.

"It was just one of those games where it seems like everything I threw was hit hard," Garland said. "I have some things that I need to work on before my next start."

Mike Napoli hit a solo home run - his sixth of the season - and Bobby Wilson picked up his first major-league hit in his first at-bat for Los Angeles, which was tagged for 16 hits.